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Life After Death/Issue 21
Ike returned to the campfire where the group was now gathered by. Bart and Matt gave them a tour of the camp as Ike approached Owen. "Hey, sport," he said. "Ready to feed Spike?" "Yeah," Owen replied with a smile. The two walked into a small, green tent near the back of the RV. Inside was an aquarium that had a layer of sand on the bottom and had rocks scattered around the place. Owen opened the lid and put his hands inside, picking up a small gecko lizard. Ike grabbed a small jar from beside the aquarium and pulled out two dead crickets, putting them on the ground. Owen let go of Spike as he started to eat the crickets. "Are these people going to stay with us, dad?" Owen asked. "I'm not sure, yet," he replied. "Rachel isn't too fond of them." "I like them." "Oh?" "Yeah, I talked to...I think her name was Megan. She's nice...and pretty." "Well, I'll be sure to tell Rachel how you feel. Maybe it will change her mind." "I hope so." The two sat in silence for a while, watching Spike eat. "I miss mommy," Owen said, breaking the silence and shocking Ike. "I do, too," Ike replied as he started to tear up. Ike put his hand on Owen's back. When Spike finished eating, they put him back inside the aquarium, closed the lid, and left the tent. ---- When the two returned to the campfire, Rachel was now sitting, talking with Bart and Matt. Ike approached them as Owen walked over to Morgan. "Oh, speak of the devil," Bart said. "So Ike, me and Matt were just about to head out hunting. Maybe get an elk or something of the sort. Y'all wanna come with?" "No thanks," Ike said. "I want to keep an eye around here." "You sure? It's the perfect time. I know you're a sucker for hunting, Ike." "Sorry to interrupt," Eric said as he walked over. "But I was just wondering when there will be some food for us to eat." "Matt and I were just about to head out hunting for dinner," Bart said. "Hunting? Heh, I used to hunt all the time with my dad when I was in school. Man, it's been years since I even held a damn rifle." "Want to come with?" Bart asked while Ike shot him a nervous look. "I don't know, it's tempting." "We got beer," Matt said with a smile. "More tempting, but I still don't know." "Look, if you don't trust us enough to come alone, you could bring one of your people with," Bart said. "Okay, I'll go see if someone want to come with." Eric walked over to Andre, who was sitting in a chair close to the fire. He noticed Eric and looked up at him. "Hey, Eric," he said. "What's up?" "So, Bart and Matt are going hunting for dinner, and they invited me to come along. Thing is, I don't really want to go by myself." "And you want me to come with?" "Yeah." "I'm not much of a hunter..." "I trust you more than I trust anyone else here, and these people give off a weird vibe." "Yeah, I get what you mean. They seem...different. Too friendly. Alright, I'll come with." "Thanks, man." ---- The four men stood outside the RV. Matt and Bart each held a hunting rifle in their hands, while Eric and Andre stood unarmed. "Can we at least have our weapons?" Andre asked. "At least something we can use in case we run into rotters." Matt looked back at Bart. "As long as you promise to keep them sheathed unless we're under attack," "Yeah, we promise," Eric said. Bart handed Eric his machete and Andre a large hunting knife that they had found in the past month. Matt pulled out a backpack and put it on. "What's that for?" Andre questioned. "It's got water, a bit of food, a matchbook, some bowls and spoons, and blankets, just in case we get stuck out there," Matt answered. "You didn't notice Bart carrying one when you guys first ran into him?" "No, not really." "Well, he did. We always bring them along with us, it's better to be safe than sorry." Dolph noticed the four men preparing to leave, and walked over. "Excuse us for a second," he said as he put his hands on Eric and Andre's backs and walked away from Matt and Bart with them. "What the fuck are you two doing?" "We're going hunting," Eric said. "Are you crazy? We don't know these people, they could be bringing you out there to fucking murder you." "Matt seems like a good guy," Andre remarked. "And Bart doesn't seem bad either." "Alvin seemed like a good guy at first, and you know how that turned out." "Do these people look like Alvin's community to you?" Eric inquired. "There's seven of them, one of them is a little boy, another is a teenager. I don't think they'd try to fuck with us." "We're not exactly in the position we were when we attacked Alvin. Sure, we can raid a camp quickly, but when's the last time you fired at someone who was firing back? And what if you run into these bandits they mentioned while you're out there? What the fuck are you going to do then? Huh?" "Deal with them." "How? Give 'em a little flesh wound and then have them come back and kill more of us?" "Don't bring that up. You know I feel like crap about not killing him when I had the chance." "Look, if you two want to run out there with people we just met, go right ahead. But if you get yourselves killed, I ain't gonna feel bad about it." "If they try to pull a gun on us, I will make sure I kill them. You have my word on that." "I'd better. I don't really feel like getting gunned down today." Dolph walked off, leaving Eric and Andre somewhat enraged. Dolph had been acting like this ever since they escaped Alvin's counterattack, and it was starting to get on their nerves. "What the fuck is his problem?" Andre asked. "He's just being Dolph," Eric replied. "He's been like this since Harter, though. He was never this much of a douche before." Eric sighed. "Apparently...Walden told Dolph that someone named Zoe was at Harter when the rotters swarmed. Dolph's sister was named Zoe. At least, that's what Devon told me." "Damn...I didn't know that. And here I am secretly hating the guy's guts." "He'd better get over it. No matter how much it hurts him...he can't keep acting like this. It's our way of life now; losing people. It's just how the world works. There's no getting around it." The two men walked back over to Bart and Matt. "What was that about?" Bart asked. "Nothing," Eric said. "Just wondering where we were going." "Sounded like more than that." "It doesn't matter. Let's just go, alright?" "Yeah, sure. Come on, we'll just tell Rachel that we're heading out." The four men walked to the fire where most of the others were. "Hey, Rachel," Bart said as he approached her from behind. Rachel turned around and saw the four men geared up for their hunt. "Heading out?" "Yeah, we'll probably be a while." "Alright, make sure you're back before sunset." "We'll try." Bart said with a smile as the four walked off. Matt opened up the hole in the fence as the group exited, and then closed it up. ---- Ryan and Penny stood in the distance some ways from the fire to ensure that nobody would hear their conversation. "What do you think about these people?" Ryan asked. "No fucking clue," Penny answered. "I haven't been around them long enough. The blond guy kinda freaks me the fuck out, though. Like some guy you'd see walking into a dark alley with a hood over his head." "I still don't trust them, and I think Ike was fucking retarded for bringing them here." "Eh, they haven't given me a reason to distrust them. We've hardly even gotten to know them." "I guess you're right, but my gut tells me that they're up to something..." ---- The group sat around the fire. Ryan and Penny were talking in the distance, Owen was in the tent with Spike, and Rachel and Ike were inside the RV. "So, what do you guys think about this place?" Morgan asked. "Because I don't really like it...at all." "It seems alright to me," Devon responded. "It's...relaxing. Something we haven't had in a long time." "I agree with Devon," Brie said. "I know we don't know anyone yet, but I kind of like it so far. The fact that they have a little boy here kind of killed any suspicion I had." "I still have my doubts about the place," Emily added. "I guess we'll just have to wait until we actually get to know everyone." "Whatever you feel," Gregory started to say. "Don't do anything rash." Gregory glanced back at Dolph. "We don't want to piss them off when they have all the guns and knives." "I hope Eric and Andre will be alright," Morgan said. "I'm sure they will be. Bart and Matt don't...well, they don't feel threatening. And besides, Eric's grown up a lot in the past month, he's learned from his mistakes. If anything happened out there, I'm sure he'd be able to get himself and Andre out alive." Credits * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Deaths *None Trivia *First appearance of .